posted 10-04-2003 12:20 PM               

In light of the talk of restoration of the Saturn V at Huntsville, I thought that some of you might enjoy these pictures that I dug out of the dungeon. They were taken in Huntsville in June of 1968 when we flew from New Jersey to Alabama where my dad met some business associates. One of them took us to Huntsville which, for me at 10 years old, was like a pilgrim visiting the Holy Land. We took a bunch of pics and here are a few. I haven't found the others. I have a slightly blurry picture of Sigma 7's instrument panel which I did not include in these four. Sigma 7 was in Huntsville at the time and was my first experience at something that had actually BEEN in space...outside of the two ballistic nose cones that graced the steps going in. There is a picture that I have yet to find of me standing next to the engines of the Saturn 1 first stage that you can just barely make out lying down past the lunar module. That young lad with the blue shirt is me. I still have hair. We got to see Von Braun's office (sans Von Braun) as well as some instrument panel that allowed you to push the same button that launched Alan Shepard. There's pic of me doing that somewhere. I have yet to come across that. As you can imagine, I was pretty much in heaven. I wanted to climb into half of these rockets and just go! :-) I don't recall seeing a Saturn V when I was there but it's possible that we did. I will know when I find all of the pics.

These four were taken with an Instamatic camera using 110 film. My how times have changed. I would be interested in anyone who has been there recently saying whether or not any of these still stand. I can identify the Redstone, Jupiter, Saturn 1 and Lunar Module (obviously) but could use help with the others. I think there is a Thor in the back of that line. I need to brush up. When I was 10 I knew these things inside and out. :-)

Gene

posted 10-06-2003 12:57 PM               

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Originally posted by DavidH:
Very cool! That very Saturn is the highlight of the view from my window at work, and some of the others are still here, but several have been moved (presumably to the Space and Rocket Center). Thanks for sharing!

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Back then I believe it was still known at the Redstone Arsenal..at least that's what the guy who took us there called it.

Nice to know that the Saturn is still there. I see it on their web site. I hope the others have had a respectful placement or retirement and weren't left to fade in some junk yard.

posted 10-06-2003 01:05 PM               

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Originally posted by nojnj:
Thanks for sharing the memories and photos. Brings back some for me also at that age. It has been probably that long since I have been there.

[This message has been edited by nojnj (edited October 04, 2003).]

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Thanks. It lights up a whole area of memories for me. I am thankful that I was in the middle of it "as it happened" and was able to have the sense of wonder that went with it.

We were at a Yankee game on July 20, 1969. The moon landing happened while the game was going on. I was pretty excited that day..Moon Landing...Yankee Game. An announcement was made during the game that we had landed and the whole place erupted. It was bat day and many of us stood on the chairs waving bats. The game was stopped for a few minutes while the cheering continued.

posted 10-07-2003 01:00 AM               

the black and white missle is remove.

lunar module is there with its own spot.

posted 10-07-2003 01:04 PM               

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Originally posted by DavidH:
When the space museum was moved off-base, some of the rockets, including the (horizontal) Saturn V, the Mercury-Redstone, and the Lunar Module were moved to that location.
Others, including the Saturn I, the Jupiter, and the Hermes ("the black and white missile") are still here at Marshall.
The USS&RC has, of course, a much bigger collection, but even what's left of the Rocket Park is a much better view than most people's offices can claim.
(There is a "small Saturn" standing at the USS&RC, but it's not the one in this picture--rather it's a Saturn IB in Apollo configuration).

[This message has been edited by DavidH (edited October 07, 2003).]

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David, thanks! Does the Lunar Module still have the same paint scheme or did they make it look "normal"? I'm sure that I have a picture of it from the front somewhere.

Gene

posted 10-07-2003 10:54 PM               

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Originally posted by Richard:
There's also a Hermes rocket at the "old airport" entrance (or there used to be). The LEM does have a better paint scheme now, but it is still somewhat disappointing. I did a reenactment of A11 for the 20th anniv. and we had it covered in mylar for that brief period. It looked actually quite realistic then, but unfortunately, mylar doesn't last long outside in the weather.

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Between you and David, my synapses are snapping back to life. I had a forgotten all about the Hermes missile but I'm sure that I knew exactly what I was looking at in that picture back in '68.